Unearthed: First Social Event of Portuguese Community in Vaughan
On March 28, 2006, Jornal Flash published a short piece written by then newspaper’s Editor, David Silva, about the first ever social event held in Maple by the local Portuguese community. This event was held the previous weekend, on Saturday, March 25, 2006, at the community hall of St. David’s Parish, in Vaughan. The original article is written in Portuguese.
Following is the English version of the article:
By David Silva for Jornal Flash, March 28, 2006
It was this past Saturday that the Portuguese community of Maple held its first social event. It was organized by a group of parishioners from St. David’s Parish, and it was a success. It included the presence of four hundred people, including priests from the parish, an Italian representation of lay people, and a few sponsors. A special mention goes to Diana Rocha from ReMax Central, Tony do Vale from Local 506, and to representatives of the community media. The event was served with exceptional food of great taste and quality, with the special touch of Red Rooster, in Maple, and with a musical show that included community artists such as Porfirio Ribeiro, Otilia de Jesus, Sandra e Hermes, who marveled the crowd and received consecutive ovations. And they deserved them because they sang, danced, made the crowd sing and dance, and amazed the audience. Congratulations!
DJ Ana-Hermes closed the party and was able to bring many people to the dance floor to dance until late. Sandra was a last-minute surprise and sang very well.
Congratulations to the organizers and to all who, by whichever way, helped make this event of the Portuguese community of Maple a success.
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About The Author
Paulo Pereira
Paulo Pereira has worked in community media for over 20 years. He started as a reporter for Sol Portugues. Later, he became Editor of Team Desportivo, Director of Flash News, Director of Jornal da Aliança, Director of Luso-Ontario Magazine, and Editor at Correio da Manha Canada's newspaper. Paulo Pereira is also a co-founder of Associacao Migrante de Barcelos where he volunteered for many years as Secretary and Sporting Director. He also volunteered for Casa do Benfica de Toronto for close to a decade as member of the Board in roles such as Public Relations Director and Vice-President for Sports and Culture. Currently, he is the President of Project First Nations, a not-for-profit organization. In November of 2023, he was elected as a member of the Portuguese Community Council, representing the District of Toronto, which includes Ontario, Manitoba and Nunavut.